Category Archives: VIP

On the Strip at Ariba LIVE 2014 Part 2

Throughout last week PayStream participated in Ariba LIVE from Las Vegas, Nevada. This blog is part of a series detailing our experiences from analyst briefings, one-on-one sessions with SAP and Ariba representatives, and keynote and breakout sessions at this highly informative industry conference.

Opening day at Ariba LIVE included several educational sessions for industry insiders including an analyst briefing and roadmap discussion. PayStream had the benefit of attending this event and has much to report for what’s in store for Ariba in 2014.

Recently, SAP acquired Ariba to include them as part of their cloud-based suite of financial and business intelligence solutions. Both parties had much to gain from this partnership. SAP offered its talent, expertise, technology, and investment while Ariba provided their customer success, and procurement and purchasing cloud DNA to further SAPs reach into the cloud ecosystem.

The analyst briefing offered insight into what Ariba had in store for both the immediate (within 3 months) and not-so-distant (within 3 years) future. Improvements are planned for all facets of the Ariba solution including strategic sourcing, P2P, services procurement, and the Ariba Network.

Increased functionality and enhanced user experience were two areas that were frequently mentioned as new additions to the Ariba solution. Ariba’s Strategic Sourcing Application improvements included a strategic search function within the application so as to avoid the need for a separate search engine. Also mentioned were recent updates for Internet Explorer 10 64-bit and Office 2013 support. In the near future increased support for the public sector and suppliers will be added as well as an increase focus on contract risk management.

Two recurring themes throughout Ariba’s roadmap were the inclusion of SAPs HANA and Globalization. P2P and Procurement support are being updated in the immediate future to include invoice, discount, shipping, and allowances support for Russia, China, Brazil, and Mexico. Better handling of multilingual codes & characters are also a top priority. The Ariba Network will be extending its reach into new markets in South America and Asia and will include compliance updates as well as integration with local third-party tax providers to ensure seamless user adoption in these foreign markets. The enhancements don’t just end there, as one might assume. Ariba is beginning a transition onto SAPs HANA framework.

SAPs HANA (High-Performance Analytic Appliance) was released in 2010 and is an incredibly powerful tool for reporting and analytics. HANA is an in-memory column-oriented, relational database management system. Traditionally, databases are stored on hard drives where processors have to communicate back and forth to analyze data. With enterprise level organizations this means that running reports can take hours or even days. For example, let’s say a supplier offers you a new arrangement involving new terms on one billion widgets. Before the introduction of HANA, running a report to see if this were in your best interest could take hours or even days; you would undoubtedly be calling them back (all the while they’re offering this exclusive offer to someone else). With HANA, instead of moving billions of records from hard-drives to a processor to be analyzed, the data is stored in-memory so you can analyze billions of records in seconds, not hours. With HANA, you’ll be able to make decisions faster and smarter. Ariba plans to have at least 90% of its application on the HANA platform by 2017, meaning faster reporting and increased efficiency for Ariba users.

PayStream is excited about the roadmap that Ariba has projected. The partnership of SAP and Ariba has merged two of the industry leaders in procurement and P2P to offer a solution like no other seen before. Stay tuned for the third installment of On the Strip at Ariba LIVE 2014 later this week. Topics will include a roadmap discussion about the Ariba Network and highlights from keynote speaker Bert Jacobs of the Life is Good Company.

Speaking of must-attend purchase-to-pay events, check this out.

Kofax Acquires Large Middle-Eastern Retail Franchise Contract

Kofax, a leading provider of purchase to pay automation services, has recently announced that a retail franchise located throughout the Middle East has invested approximately $650,000 in Kofax’s MarkView for AP automation solution. The franchise processes around 1.3 million invoices per year, equating to 12 million pages of information.

Kofax’s MarkView for AP is a capture enabled financial process automation application for accounts payable. PayStream Advisors recently had the opportunity to review the MarkView for AP solution and we found several unique features worth noting. We have found the solution helps finance managers to transform financial operations while connecting with any ERP including Microsoft Dynamics, SAP, and Oracle. The solution creates seamless invoice automation, from intake to payment, eliminating paper from the process with the latest invoice capture technologies. MarkView for AP streamlines processing with dynamic workflow and straight through processing technology. We found the use of analytics and reports to improve spend visibility and drive continual increases in efficiency most impressive.

PayStream Advisors and Kofax will be co-presenting a webinar March 11^th, 2014 at 2:00PM EST titled “Going Beyond P2P Workflow with Smart Practices.” The webinar will focus on best practices for workflow architecture, the fundamentals of smart processes, using spend analytics to capture discounts, and increasing productivity where you least expect it. To learn more about this complimentary webinar and reserve your seat, click here.

Chile’s E-Invoicing Solutions: Finding the Right Fit

Finding an E-invoicing software provider in Chile can prove to be an arduous task. This article was developed to assist you in your search for paperless invoicing solutions. Paystream research is designed to avoid wasted time searching for providers, unnecessary implementation costs, excessive down-time resulting in loss of revenue, and possible fines imposed by the Federal Government. Unfortunately, the available amount of analytical research on electronic invoicing providers in Chile is limited.

PayStream Advisors, an independent payment automation research firm, is writing a research report comparing the foremost E-invoicing firms in Chile in the coming weeks. Paystream’s reports are designed so you can identify a product that harnesses your business potential and presents the highest return on investment.

In choosing a Chilean E-invoicing platform, it is essential that you carefully define the needs of your business and the challenges you expect to face in transitioning to a paperless system. Chile’s billing and payment ecosystem is highly diverse; PayStream has identified over 100 providers ranging from large full-service firms partnered with well-known ERP providers to small boutique companies serving niche markets.

The size of a company and the amount of transactions that occur can be a leading factor in choosing a Chilean E-billing provider. We have uncovered a variety of pricing options. Nubox, a 100% cloud-based provider, offers a tiered pricing platform tailored to the volume of a company’s transactions. There are several increasing subscription levels, each including a nominal fee charged per invoice in excess of the basic subscription. Pricing for such plans starts at .8 UF (approx. $35 month) for under 40 invoices.

Other solution providers cater to firms with a higher volume of transactions, charging an annual fee based on number of users and services need. Defonta, for example, has a fully-online ERP and has multiple packages that are differentiated by both the number of allotted users permitted, and by the type of managerial and analytical software included.

Another item to consider in choosing an e-billing provider in Chile is whether or not they exist outside of Chile. Many of the larger AP automation providers such as Azurian operate throughout Latin America. Since Chile, Mexico, Brazil, Peru and Argentina all have their own set of sophisticated tax regulations, this can prove particularly cost-effective if you plan to grow throughout Latin America. Most of these larger multinational providers also offer seamless integration with leading ERP software such as SAP and Oracle.

The number of e-invoicing providers are growing and becoming diversified, tailoring their services to meet specific industry needs. Take for example, Factura Movil. The company’s entire platform is garnered to mobile devices so as to provide merchants using mobile processing (smartphone) readers a seamless invoicing platform.

Each Chilean Electronic Invoicing provider has its own set of unique properties that could push it to the forefront of contenders for your business. Chile’s providers have numerous options in terms of platforms, services offered, and price points to meet almost every business owner’s need for paperless invoice automation. Hopefully in the near future, benchmark data will be available on these providers to make the decision of which provider to choose an easier one.

PayStream Releases Receivables Document Management Report

Exploring ways to obtain rapid improvement in your Accounts Receivable department with a favorable return on investment? Download a complimentary copy of PayStream’s new Receivables Document Management (RDM) report. The report includes key drivers of RDM automation, along with information on how to build a business case.

The report reveals that companies worldwide are seeking straight-through or touchless processing (STP) solutions while leveraging their Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems so that the Accounts Receivable (AR) and credit staff can focus on strategically improving cash flow as well as other value added tasks. Market demand continues to increase for solutions that facilitate STP by delivering strong functionality around automated routines to manage exceptions and dispute resolution in a collaborative manner. There is also an increased focus on data extraction to drive automated, touchless processes.

One of the biggest challenges to achieving STP is paper handling. Because commercial trading partner relationships are complex with multiple points of interface, it is an environment ripe for generating documents. Paper often becomes the medium for connecting all the disparate elements internally and externally, and as such is both inefficient and costly. This is especially critical considering AR departments are being asked to continuously do more with the same limited staff resources.

Studies show that, despite the availability of electronic document solutions, paper remains pervasive within the AR function. Companies are actively seeking document management technology solutions to eliminate paper, reduce costs and drive better efficiency. RDM clearly plays a critical role in AR automation. Wherever there are paper documents or data that must be moved from one system to another or between trading partners, there is a role for RDM. To realize the full opportunity of RDM, however, it must be fully integrated into the order-to-cash process.

Report highlights include:

Concerns related to dispute management and account processing are sharply increasing. Both areas can be improved with RDM technology.
Why RDM automation is necessary and key drivers of automation.
Key benefits associated with RDM for document imaging and content management.
Document management solution providers who have strong capabilities to meet the needs of corporate AR automation efforts.

The Receivables Document Management: Maintaining Tight Control Over the Entire Order-to-Cash Process report is available for free. Download your complimentary copy today.

PayStream Publishes SAP Automation Solutions Report

SAP AG is moving full-speed-ahead into an on-demand cloud delivery platform, and increasingly adding its own “native” analytics and business solutions. The financial supply chain has been abuzz with speculation about what the trend means – both for buyers and SAP’s partners, the “Best-of-Breed” solution providers with products designed to work exclusively on the SAP platform.

This is a seismic change, and unlike the decades-long march toward touch-less accounts payable processing, it is happening very fast. We predict more changes to come as SAP, Oracle and others leverage their growing Cloud networks to create the commerce equivalent of today’s interoperable cell phone or ATM networks.

Accounts Payable automation is entering a golden age for buyers as “non-native” solution providers – that is those not marketed directly by SAP – raise the bar on price, scalability and functionality, to prove their “go-to-market” claims of “Best in Breed.”

Analysts here at PayStream Advisors have studied the new landscape and offer the new SAP report to answer questions and serve as a buyer’s guide to ePayables automation options for SAP users in the era of collaborative commerce.

The cloud rush has begun and SAP’s recent acquisitions are just the beginning. PayStream analysts reveal trends to watch – the mass migration from on-premise ERP to cloud-based platforms, and supplier network consolidation and interoperability. Unlike the slow migration from paper to electronic invoicing, PayStream expects these trends to move swiftly and be marked by a period of acquisition and innovation.

As solutions become increasingly customizable, SAP users will be able to configure the solutions in the way that works best for their business. For some, that will mean bundling the solution so tightly with their existing SAP software that users cannot tell the difference. For companies that transact business around the globe, that may mean using the solution to tie their disparate systems together – or some solution in between.

The SAP Automation Solutions: Platform as a Service – A buyer’s guide to ePayables solutions for SAP was underwritten in part by ReadSoft and Taulia, and can be downloaded for free HERE. Download your complimentary copy today.

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